


What Lies Beyond

by Katt_Venus



Series: Shadows Past/Future Light [2]
Category: Shadows Past/Future Light
Genre: Alternate Universe, Death, Demon possession, F/F, F/M, Mild Language, Sci-Fi, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:14:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24852154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katt_Venus/pseuds/Katt_Venus
Summary: Is it possible other universes exist, and if so, what lies in these brand new worlds? Take a dip into Lukas Leroux's life following the Look Into the Past book!
Relationships: Katherine Nevixo-Witchell/Ben Witchell, Lukas Leroux/Emma Nevixo
Series: Shadows Past/Future Light [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1506056





	1. New Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **NOTE: This occurs directly after A Look into the Past!**  
>  **However time passes differently in this book! For them, two years where Luke currently is equals one in any other world, this also accounts for age - two years = one aged year. Luke (and the other characters, including Katt from ALIP) will still age by one year every two years, as in Universe O,  
> **  
>  two years feels like one!

Luke looked around him, but it was dark as far as the eye could see. He tried to call for help, but no sound came out. It was as if he was alone, and no one could hear him. He sat down and sighed, looking himself over.

Suddenly a soft glow appeared in front of him, hovering like it had a mind of its own. As he reached for it, he was able to hear a soft sound coming from it.

He grabbed it and found the area being engulfed with light. A soft yet somewhat familiar voice spoke, “Hey, are you okay?”

Luke blinked a few times and found Katt looking down at him, yet she looked...different. Rather than her usual blond hair she had black, and her once red eyes now an ocean blue. 

“Katt...what’s going on?”

“How do you...know my name?”

He sat up, looking around him, noticing he was in a place he’d never seen before. “Where are we?”

“This is Avarion. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“But this isn’t what Avarion looks like…” He said, looking back over at her.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Luke.”

“Full name.” Came a voice, and Luke looked over to find a man standing off to the side.

“Lukas Leroux. I don’t get what’s going on…”

Suddenly there was the end of a scythe held up to his throat, and he looked over to find Azuzia standing in front of Katt. Her voice was harsh as she spoke, “Is this some kind of joke?”

“Zuzu wait!”

Her scythe fell a bit, and she looked him up and down. “Who sent you?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t even know how I got here…”

Katt took a step forward, “Where are you from?”

“Avarion, but this doesn’t look right.”

“And the last thing you remember?”

He thought for a moment, “I went to Prizra to help Mark and then I was knocked out, I think?”

The man stepped up, putting a hand on Katt’s shoulder. “You know Prizra?”

“Yeah? I work for them, but I was planning on leaving with you.” Luke said, motioning over to Katt.

“Prizra’s been disbanded for years now.”

“That doesn’t make sense though…” 

Azuzia pulled back her scythe, “Do you have anything on you?”

Luke fumbled around for a moment and then pulled out his phone. “Yeah, my phone but that’s it.”

Katt took it from him, looking it over. After a moment, she looked back at Luke. “What’s the very last thing you can recall?”

“It was dark and it felt like I was being torn into shreds… Why?”

“And you’re from Avarion, correct?” The man asked.

“Yeah…”

“Well Luke, have you ever heard of alternate universes?” Katt said, handing him back the phone.

“I’ve heard about them once or twice. Why?”

“If you don’t mind, can you come back to the station with us? We have a few questions.”

“That’s fine… yeah.”

She smiled, holding out a hand. “The name’s Katherine Nevixo-Witchell, nice to meet you.”


	2. Rock, Paper, Scissors

Luke found himself in the back of a cop car, the man was driving and Katherine was seated in the passenger’s seat. Time seemed to slowly crawl by, and eventually the three arrived at a small police station. They made their way in and Katherine motioned for Luke to take a seat. 

She left and he found himself alone with the man, who looked Luke up and down. “I don’t believe I caught your name?” Luke chuckled nervously.

“Ben Witchell, her husband. Don’t do anything out of line, or else.”

Katherine walked back over with three cups, placing one down in front of Ben and the other in front of Luke. She sat down in the chair across from Luke, taking a sip of her drink. Luke gently picked up the cup and looked inside.

She smiled, “It’s a berry tea. You’ll like it, promise.”

He took a sip and then Ben sighed. “So, tell us everything?”

“Define everything?”

“Since the moment you were born. We want to know it all.”

And so Luke told them everything, from Katt to Prizra, not leaving a single detail out. The hours passed by and eventually Luke sat back in the chair, letting out a sigh. “That’s about it.”

“So the Emma in your universe is dead?” Katt asked.

“Yeah, supposedly she was taken and then killed. Her body was found a few days after.”

“And who’s this Sapphire person again?”

“She’s Katt’s youngest sister...”

“Oh… I only have one younger sister, and that’s Emma.”

The room was silent and Ben sighed, rubbing his temples. “And all of this is the truth?”

Luke nodded, and Katt sighed. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”

Luke looked in between them, “So care to tell me what’s going on now?”

As if on cue the door opened and a woman walked in, a little boy running behind her. She carried a small girl in her arms, and smiled at Katt as she walked in.

The boy ran up to Katt, his voice eager. “Momma momma, I saw a shark today!”

“That’s great honey. Can you go play for a bit? Us adults need to have a secret conversation.”

He nodded and left as the woman walked up, handing the girl to Katt. She looked over at Luke, then held out a hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Emma Nevixo.”

Luke was stunned for a moment and then shook her hand. “You look like Erica.”

“Who?”

Katt smiled, “We have a lot to catch you up on.”

They quickly filled her in and she then looked over at Luke, “So you’re from here but you’re not from here. Is that what you’re saying?”

He nodded and she sighed, leaning back in the chair. “Has anyone ever talked about alternate universes?”

“People have mentioned it, but said it’s impossible.”

“And it should be, yet it is possible. Right now, you are in an alternate universe.”

Luke looked around them, “And how do I get back home?”

Katherine sighed, leaning back in the chair. “We don’t know. Emma’s been researching it for years but we’d gone practically nowhere.”

“What we do know is that it’s near impossible for someone to survive such a trip.” Emma nodded, looking over at Luke.

“So you’re saying I should be dead?”

“I said it was near impossible. The chances of surviving a trip to any universe is about 5%.”

Luke sighed, “Is there a chance I can go back at all?”

“Well we are still researching, but yes, it should be. We just have to create the technology and make sure it’s safe.”

“Then I’ll help.”

Katherine raised a hand, “Actually, Ben and I were thinking of having you help us. See we’re a bit understaffed here at the station, and the more help we can get, the better.”

Emma huffed, “I think I need more help than you. After all, if I’m making this tech it’s best he works with me.”

“Hold her for a second hun.” Katherine said, handing the small girl over to Ben. She then held out a hand to Emma, a smile on her face. “Rock, paper, scissors. Best out of three wins.”

Ben sighed, muttering to himself. “God, we’re going to be here for hours.”

Luke chuckled, “If it’s fine, I could just help you both?”

Emma looked over at him, nodding. “That works for me. Is that okay by you sis?”

“Sounds fine to me. Welcome to the team.” Katherine smiled, and the rest nodded in agreement. It was the start of a brand new life, in another universe, where anything was possible.


	3. Cactus Coffee

Luke woke up and sat up quickly, looking around him. He found himself in a living room, the TV was on but the volume quiet and soft. A face appeared above him and Luke rolled off the couch in surprise. Emma chuckled, “Good morning too. Well afternoon actually.”

“Where am…”

“I offered for you to stay at my place until we get you settled, don’t you remember?” She said, sitting down on the ground in front of him.

“Not really, no. Yesterday seems like a blur.”

“Well it was.” She said, looking him over. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine, I think?”

“Great. Let’s get going then.” She stood up, a smile on her face.

“Where exactly?” 

“To work of course! We’re going to make universe travel possible, you and I.” Emma held out a hand and he grabbed it. She pulled him up, and some while later Luke found himself in the passenger’s seat of the car. They pulled up to a large building and he was left speechless. “Is this…”

“ATLAS, yeah.” Emma smiled. “My pride and joy.”

“Remind me what you do again?”

“I created the first holographic technology alongside an AI. I dabble in universe research on the side.”

The two got out of the car and as they walked in, a man approached them. He handed Emma a folder, “The bug reports from AVA.”

“Thanks a bunch Andrew.” She smiled. “If you don’t mind, you can take the day off.”

“Is something the matter?”

“Nothing at all. Lukas and I over here have some planning to do.”

“Understood. Have a good day.”

He left and they made their way up in an elevator. Eventually they arrived at a large office, technology all over. Emma grabbed a small device and tossed it over towards Luke. “Catch.”

“What is it?” He said, nearly dropping it.

“It’s a tablet. I’ll teach you how to use it later, but it’s yours.”

She sat down in a swivel chair and smiled, “Well then, let’s get to work. Tell me everything about your universe.”

“Everything?” He said, pulling up a chair.

“Down to each restaurant you’ve ever been to. The more information, the higher chance we have to find it.”

The time passed by and took down notes of each tiny detail. Eventually Emma leaned back in the chair and looked at the wall, where a holographic display was mounted with all the information. “Well that should help quite a bit.”

“So where do we get started?”

“Well, I did notice some fluctuations recently. Meaning someone else has already figured out how to travel between other universes.”

“Can we just find them and talk to them?”

Emma chuckled, “It’s likely that they don’t want to be found.”

“This is going to be impossible.”

“We’ll figure it out. Now let’s get to work.”

Days passed by and turned into weeks, and eventually those weeks turned into months. Soon six years had passed by, but it felt like time had flown by in the blink of an eye. 

Luke walked down the hallway carrying two cups and arrived at a door, letting himself in. Emma sat on the floor, her tablet next to her. She was screwing something into a small metal frame, and Luke sat down next to her. “Got you coffee. Two cups of sugar and one drop of coffee.”

She chuckled, and stuck her tongue out. “Very funny.”

Luke took a sip of his coffee. “So it’s almost done, huh?”

“Yeah, we can try and test it again later today.”

“Hopefully this time nothing else explodes.”

“It was an accident, I swear!”

Luke chuckled and she sat back, picking up the cup. She took a sip and sighed, “So how should we test if something can survive? Sending a live animal through is too cruel.”

“We can always use plants.”

“Good point. By the way, did you get the bracelets done? It’s our only way to get back home once we step into another universe you know.”

“Finished them a few weeks ago.” Luke chuckled. 

“I was just checking…”

“Aha I know, I’m messing with you.”

It was silent for a moment and Emma stood up, grabbing Luke’s hand. “Let’s go get some plants.”

“Wait now? It’s like 11pm!”

The two left and made their way to a small nursery, and Emma looked back at Luke, a smile on her face. She held up a small flower pot, “We should plant this in front of the house.”

“It wouldn’t match.”

“Does it have to?”

Luke shrugged, looking over at a few small cacti. “Why don’t we get some cacti to test? They’re pretty durable.”

“Yeah, that should be fine. You’re changing the topic though.”

He chuckled and a while later, the two left with an abundance of plants. As they walked back into the office, Emma dropped one of the cacti plants, and the pot shattered into pieces. She huffed, her voice quiet as she spoke. “Aw that was one of the ones I was going to plant.”

Luke grabbed an empty, but somehow clean coffee mug from the desk. He gently picked up the plant and potted it into the mug, while Emma placed plants onto the floor. After a few moments, he held it out towards her. “Care for a cup of coffee?”

She smiled and grabbed it. “Since when are you so fond of plants?”

“It’s a hobby of mine.”

“Well…” She said, looking over at the now finished box. “Should we start?”


End file.
